For most people, though, bingeing starts precisely because of restriction—it’s the Restriction Pendulum at work again, where bingeing is a natural response to dieting or “watching it” or “eating clean” or “being healthy” or whatever you want to call it. The pendulum has to swing back because you’ve been physically and psychologically deprived of food. When you’re skimping on portions, restricting certain foods, berating yourself for what and how much you eat, and living under a regime of deprivation, the body’s natural response is to eat as much as it can at any opportunity. Even if you feel
...more
